The FIFA Council recently approved new legislation that requires women’s teams in FIFA tournaments to have a woman head coach or an assistant coach.[1] This new requirement comes into effect ahead of the U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cups and the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup.[2] Now, the teams must have “at least two women staff members in their backroom staff, with one needing to be either the head coach or assistant coach.”[3] This ruling also applies to FIFA’s youth tournaments, senior women’s football tournaments, national team competitions, and club competitions.[4]
FIFA chief football officer Jill Ellis stated, ‘”There are simply not enough women in coaching today. We must do more to accelerate change by creating clearer pathways, expanding opportunities, and increasing the visibility for women on our sidelines.’”[5] FIFA also said that this mandate is part of their long-term strategy – to prepare women for leading positions.[6]
The approval of this new legislation is a step in the right direction for women in sports. For instance, at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, there were only twelve of thirty-two women head coaches.[7] Further, a 2019 survey completed by FIFA found that 7% of coaching positions were held by women.[8] In a 2023 survey, 7% decreased to only 5%.[9]
Coaching licenses typically increase in price at the semiprofessional and professional levels.[10] Top-tier licenses for head coaching positions can cost an individual thousands of dollars.[11] For example, the highest level of U.S. Soccer is $10,000 and $6,250 for the A-License Course for the UEFA.[12] The issue with this is that the salaries for women in soccer have not been very high.[13] However, some teams and federations may offer a form of sponsorship to help those receive their licenses.[14] Hopefully with FIFA’s new legislation, there will continue to be more women in coaching positions.
[1] Tom Hamilton, FIFA mandates woman coach or assistant for women’s competitions, ESPN (Mar. 19, 2026) https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/48247770/fifa-mandate-female-coach-assistant-women-comps.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Doha Madani, New FIFA rule says women’s teams must have a woman on leadership staff, NBC News (Mar. 19, 2026) https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/new-fifa-rule-says-womens-teams-must-woman-leadership-staff-rcna264340.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] Id.
Featured Image: Andrew Leigh, FIFA Women’s Champions Cup: What to know about Gotham FC’s first trophy chance of 2026, Hudson River Blue (Jan. 27, 2026) https://www.hudsonriverblue.com/fifa-womens-champions-cup-2026-explainer-gotham-fc-arsenal-fc/.